


No Strings Attached

by htownwrites



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aromantic, Aromantic Phichit Chulanont, Asexual Phichit Chulanont, Asexuality Spectrum, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Coming Out, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri Are Best Friends, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23672221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htownwrites/pseuds/htownwrites
Summary: In this world, everyone can see the red string of fate that ties them to their soulmates.Phichit's strings are all green and he doesn't know why. All of his friends seem to have a red string.He doesn't particularly WANT a soulmate but he still feels a little broken.
Relationships: Christophe Giacometti/Christophe Giacometti's Boyfriend, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Leo de la Iglesia/Ji Guang-Hong, Otabek Altin/Jean-Jacques Leroy/Yuri Plisetsky/Isabella Yang, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Phichit Chulanont & Ji Guang-Hong, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri, Phichit Chulanont & Leo de la Iglesia
Comments: 16
Kudos: 73





	No Strings Attached

Phichit was only half listening to his best friend. Yuuri was going on and on about how he still couldn't believe that his red string had been connected to Viktor this entire time. Since the string wasn't a physical entity, people couldn't follow it or touch it very well, just realize when the strings connected. But everyone seemed to have at least one, sometimes more, red strings. 

Everyone except Phichit Chulanont. 

His strings were all green and seemed to connect to all of his friends. He didn't know what that meant, and it could be genuinely confusing, especially when those friends had their OWN strings, that were red and connected to them to a romantic soulmate. Like Yuuri. 

When Phichit had first met Yuuri and realized that his green string connected to Yuuri he'd thought that meant that he wasn't broken, that his strings were just a different color. But Yuuri didn't see their string. He'd asked once, and Yuuri had just looked at him confused. 

_"Hey, do you see green strings?" Phichit had asked his roommate. "Because...well...we have one."_

_Yuuri looked at him confused. "Green? I don't see any green ones. Just this annoying red one that I can't seem to find the end to. Are you color blind? But why would you have a red string connected to me if that was true because, I love you, buddy, but I don't think you're on the other end of my string."_

_"Oh," his disappointment was mild, and he kind of felt like it was just because he'd thought he'd had an answer and it turned out to be just another mystery. "No I'm not color blind, but I have a bunch of strings and they're green."_

_Yuuri had shrugged. "I don't know, I've never known anyone else with green strings."_

Phichit sighed and tuned away from the memory and into the present. 

"Can you believe it, Viktor Nikiforov was my soulmate this whole time! I never would have realized!" Yuuri was rambling a little. He'd said this exact sentence at least three times. Phichit was unconditionally happy for his best friend and it wasn't fair of him to wallow in the fact that he still didn't understand his green strings. He moved away from his thoughts and smiled at his best friend. 

"I'm so happy for you, Yuuri!" 

"Thanks Phichit. It means a lot to hear you say that! Especially since you used to think...well nevermind, our friendship is the best and I wouldn't give it up for the world, even with a soulmate." 

Phichit winced a little at Yuuri bringing up that he'd mentioned his green string around him once. Especially since Yuuri seemed to think that because he'd found his soulmate it just proved Phichit was seeing what he'd wanted to see or something and that the green strings weren't real. 

_What if they aren't real and I'm crazy?_ he thought horribly to himself, not for the first time. _And broken. If I don't have a red string I'm broken._

He shook those thoughts off. He didn't tend to wallow in negative thoughts, so why was he doing it now?

"Anyway! Phichit, I'm rambling but I wanted to ask you...would you be my best man? We're going ahead with the wedding soon and I want you to be a part of it!" Yuuri asked him. Phichit saw the green string connected to Yuuri lightup at the same time he felt his heart lift. 

"Seriously? Me? Yuuri!! Of course I'll be your best man!" He leaped up and hugged his best friend. Yuuri seemed a little startled. "AHH I'm so excited! Hang on, take a selfie with me!!" he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of himself and Yuuri. "Gotta commemorate this!!" 

Yuuri laughed a little nervously. "Seriously, Phichit, never change." 

"Oh you're going to have a KILLER slideshow at the wedding, I can't wait! I've got so many pics in here!!" He tapped his phone and grinned. "Some of them are hella embarrassing so it's perfect!! Can't be a good best man without embarrassing the shit out of my bff!!" 

He'd forgotten his melancholy over not knowing what the green strings meant. He was too excited at the prospect of being Yuuri's best man. He hugged his best friend and took another photo. "I'll try to keep it mostly tame. Pretty sure I'd get murdered over some of the pics I have." He waggled his eyebrows. 

Yuuri turned red and lightly smacked Phichit's shoulder. "Phichit! Come on my family is going to be there!" 

"OH YEAH! Speaking of which, can I have Mari's number? I bet she has the BEST pictures of you from when you were little and big siblings are always way more likely to share the best embarrassing stuff. Oh I bet Minako has stuff too!" 

Yuuri buried his face in his hands. "Phichit, please don't embarrass me too much, I don't think I could handle it!" 

Phichit beamed at his best friend. "I'll keep it to a minimum, I promise." 

* * *

A few days later Phichit was looking up the best places to take his friend on a hilariously embarrassing bachelor party when his phone rang. Most of his friends were texters and avoided calling so it caught him off guard. 

It was Leo. 

If Leo was calling it had to be serious, it was, like, 2 in the morning where Leo was. 

He answered the phone. "Hey, Leo, what's up?" 

"Hey, I'm in China, so don't worry it's not 2am," Leo started off, clearly knowing that Phichit would be very worried about his American friend calling him that early. "I...I need to tell you something." 

"If you're in China I'm assuming it's about Guang Hong?" he sighed, he had a pretty good idea of what was coming, he'd been suspecting it for a while. "Lemme guess...red string of fate, the two of you are dumbasses who didn't notice it before and now, you went visit him and were spending more time together outside of competition and it became more obvious and completely shattered any illusions you had of being straight, is that right?" Phichit guessed. 

There was silence on the other line for a moment. "Damnit Phichit, how are you so good at figuring shit out like that?" 

"Practice," he replied. "So are you two together now or are things kind of awkward." 

"We're...uh...we're figuring it out. I wasn't really prepared for my soulmate to be a dude, ya know? I always assumed it would be a woman." 

Phichit resisted the urge to tell Leo "I told you so". He'd kinda figured Leo was bi based on the way he interacted with his friendships. They were intense in a way that he'd never really seen from a straight guy. He'd told Leo about the green strings when they'd met too, not that they had one that connected them but that he saw green strings. Leo had been the only person to suggest a solution. 

_"Maybe you see platonic relationships," the American had suggested. Phichit stared at him blankly._

_"I could be seeing...platonic relationships?" he'd questioned ._

_"Yeah dude, like...you see the relationships you're destined to have but they aren't romantic, so they're not your soulmates. But everyone deserves loves, you just got a lot of platonic love. Maybe your red string is just buried in all the green ones. Or you're color blind and can't see the red one. Ooo! Do we have a green string? If it's a friendship string I'm super down."_

_"Why does EVERYONE assume I'm color blind!! I can tell the difference between red and green, Leo, that's not it. And yes, we have a green string."_

_"Ah well, just a theory. And awesome. I'm always down for more friends."_

Tuning back into the current conversation, he bit his tongue once more to avoid the "I told you so" and said, "I'm sure you two will figure it out. And Guang Hong must be over the moon. He's always had a pretty big crush on you, you know." 

"Yeah that's how I actually noticed our string, he actually confessed. Straight up as red a strawberry too. You know how easily he blushes, and how cute he is about it. Gets all mad and makes that one face..." Leo seriously talked about Guang Hong like that ALL THE TIME and then didn't notice their red string until Guang Hong confessed. Of course Phichit hadn't asked Guang Hong about red strings, he probably didn't notice either. 

"Guang Hong said he didn't notice it either. I guess you can put us both in the clueless dumbass box," Leo continued. "I wanted to call and tell you rather than text it or have you find out from us becoming Instagram official or something." 

"It's cool, I'm happy for you guys, even if this is going to be hard to explain to your families." 

"Guang Hong's family is surprisingly pretty on board. Apparently they let him have like, one sip of alcohol when he was 12 and he just cried about how much he loved boys, so he's been out to them for a while. And they've always been pretty fond of me. Not sure how my family is going to take it but, that's life I guess." 

"That's great," Phichit said, feeling a little bummed out. He wasn't jealous of his friends exactly, it just seemed like everyone he knew was finding love and their soulmates and he was stuck here with a phone and some hamsters. He looked over at his pets in their cages. _I didn't mean that. I love you guys a lot._

"Ha, that sounds like Ji-man!" He laughed. 

"Haha, yeah it does..oh did you want to talk to him too? He's here and looking at me with those puppy eyes." 

"Yeah put him on," Phichit said. 

"Hey, Phich..." Guang Hong said..."Wait hang on..." 

Phichit heard movement. "Ok, I wanted to talk to you out of Leo's hearing...he doesn't know about...that one time." 

Phichit remembered. Shit. It was about two years ago, back when Guang Hong had just turned 16 and Phichit was 18 about to turn 19 and they had pretty recently become friends. Guang Hong had admitted to having a crush on Phichit. They'd gone on a date and had a good time, but Phichit ultimately didn't feel the same. But he was trying to prove that he wasn't broken so he'd kissed Guang Hong, and it had kind of turned into an almost-hookup situation until he'd slammed on the breaks. He'd felt really bad about it later and confessed that he didn't have romantic or sexual feelings for him, and Guang Hong had forgiven him. Said he'd had guys do that before, where they thought they might be gay and so they'd gone to the one kid everyone at school knew was gay, only to realize that even if they were gay it wasn't for him. Phichit had explained that wasn't what he was doing...even though it kind of was? 

_I didn't think I was gay and wanted to find out...I just wanted to figure out what was wrong with me..._

"You're not upset are you? I know you said you didn't have feelings for me but...I guess I moved on really fast after that, and now the guy I moved on to turned out to be my soulmate and you still don't seem to have one and all your friends are getting together, and I know you must feel like a third wheel. I just...I wanted to make sure you were ok," Guang Hong continued. 

"No no! I'm happy for you guys. What happened with us was...I messed up, and I shouldn't have done that. It was a shitty thing to do. I knew I didn't have feelings for you, and I'd used the fact that you had feelings for me to test something out on you, which wasn't fair. I just require that I'm also your best man when you two get married! That's me! Phichit Chulanont: professional skater and professional best man!" 

Guang Hong giggled. "I'm glad you happy for us, I'm...I still can't believe it. I know Leo can't" 

Phichit chuckled a little. "You two are going to be great together. I'm not a third wheel, I'm an independent unicycle and proud of it!" 

Guang Hong giggled again. Phichit heard Leo's voice in the background. "Are you gonna use up all my international minutes chatting with Phichit, mi chico guapo? _"_

"Sorry!" Guang Hong shouted. "I think Leo wants his phone back, hang on." 

Silence. Then..."Are you sure you're totally ok with it?" Leo said. 

"Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm chill with their relationships? Of course I am!" 

"I just...your platonic strings are enough?" 

"I mean, as long as my platonic strings don't abandon me the moment they get in a relationship, and I know you guys won't!" Phichit said, rolling his eyes and hoping the vocal tone came across right. 

"Don't roll your eyes at me, I'm just worried about you, man. Viktor and Yuuri got together and then we did, it's gotta seem like all of your friends are pairing up but you." 

"Yeah. But I'm not mad about it. I don't really want a soulmate," Phichit explained for what felt like the billionth time in his life. Why were people so reluctant to believe that he didn't want a soulmate, and the only reason the green strings bothered him is that he didn't know what they meant.

"Ok..." Leo didn't sound totally convinced. "If you say so I'll buy it. Gotta let you go now. International minutes and uh...gotta figure out this whole soulmate thing." 

"Yeah, sure! Love you guys, and good luck. I'm super happy for you, so don't you dare forget my wedding invitation!" Phichit quipped. 

"Bye!" 

They hung up. Phichit was happy for his friends so why did he feel so damn confused? 

* * *

The next day, Phichit picked up his mail and wandered back inside, not wanting to stand in the hot Bangkok sun longer than he had to. Bangkok didn't know it was January. 

A figure skating magazine was on top. JJ Leroy was on the cover, they must not have been able to convince Yuri Plisetsky to pose for an obscure Thai figure skating magazine, but JJ would 100% get his hands on any magazine interview he could. The headline was "Jean-Jaques Leroy: On Coming Out Publicly as Bisexual, and Wins and Losses at the Grand Prix Final"

...what?? 

Phichit flipped to the article, wondering why this magazine was covering it. It was apparent when he flipped to the article that it wasn't an exclusive, but typically, JJ had sent it to everyone. 

_Jean Jaques Leroy, popularly known as JJ, came out to the Canadian public as bisexual, shortly following his third place win, but stunning fall from grace as the top contender for the gold, at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona. Leroy had this to say on the subject:_

_JJ: "It doesn't change my relationship with my fiancé in the slightest, it's just something I've discovered about myself. I guess, sometimes you think your one string of fate is the only one out there, and then more appear and lead you to others as well."_

_Interviewer: "More that one string of fate?"_

Phichit stared at the magazine...JJ had more than one string? Did he see the green strings? He'd never expected to feel camaraderie with JJ but...he kept reading. 

_JJ: "Oops, spoke a bit off the cuff..I...Isabella and I aren't ready to talk about it publicly yet, but I guess there's a couple other people I seem to be tied to. It's a weaker version of my tie with Isabella, but it's definitely there and none of us can deny it. I thought at first God was testing me...but it seems to be a pretty positive thing, so I think He's telling me it's ok to be whatever version of myself is the most true. I did a lot of soul searching after the GP Final, it wasn't enough to just BE the best, I had to REALLY figure out what it meant to be "JJ Style"_

Phichit put the magazine down. Jean Jaques Leroy of all FUCKING people has THREE soulmates? THREE? This was the last straw. Surely there were answers. 

He'd never Googled his lack of interest in a soulmate or the green strings because he was afraid of the answers he'd find. Afraid that if he searched it he'd find out that he'd made the whole thing up and he really was broken. But if JJ Leroy had three soulmates, three people destined to put up with his shit for the rest of their lives, Phichit knew there had to be answers. 

Why don't I have a red string? he typed into Google. 

The first few sites weren't helpful, the were just telling preteens that their red string wouldn't appear until their late teens at the earliest. 

He tried: Why do I see green strings and why don't I want a soulmate. 

The first few results were also useless, people talking about how green strings were a myth. 

Finally he saw something that resonated. 

_Asexuality and Aromanticism in a World With Destined Soulmates_

He'd never heard the word "asexual" before outside of biology and "aromantic" was completely foreign. 

He clicked the link. 

"An asexual person does not experience sexual attraction – they are not drawn to people sexually. Unlike celibacy, which is a choice to abstain from sexual activity, asexuality is an intrinsic part of who we are, just like other sexual orientations. Asexuals can have a variety of romantic attractions and may still have romantic relationships, and as such, may or may not have a red string soul mate. Some asexuals report being able to see green strings connecting them to the important platonic relationships in their life, especially if they are also aromantic or on the aromantic spectrum." 

He stared at the words on the screen. 

He skimmed the article to look for what "aromantic" meant. 

"Aromantisicm is one of many Romantic orientations. An **aromantic** is a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others. People identifying as aromantic can also experience romance in a way otherwise disconnected from normative societal expectations (for example due to feeling repulsed by romance, or being uninterested in romantic relationships.) Where alloromantic people have an emotional need to be with another person in a romantic relationship, aromantics are often satisfied with friendships and other non-romantic relationships. Aromantic people often have platonic soulmates instead of romantic ones, and have reported seeing green strings that connect them to their platonic relationships." 

He stared again. 

He...he wasn't broken? He was just as much of a whole person as Yuuri, or Leo, or Guang Hong, or JJ. He didn't want a soulmate because he could be aromantic, or at least on the aromantic spectrum, and he might be asexual, and didn't experience sexual attraction to other people, which is why he'd always been confused by people's reactions to each other. 

He whooped a little. One of his hamsters, the gold one he'd named "Yuuri Gold Chulanont" fell off his wheel and turned to stare at him. Yuuri was his most easily startled hamster. 

"Sorry," he said to the little rodent. "I'm just glad to find out there's nothing wrong with me, and that there's words that might describe who I am as a person." 

He felt like the weight he'd been carrying with him his whole life had been lifted off his chest. 

Finally he had an answer.

* * *

Yuuri and Viktor had decided to do their own version of a bridal shower, which ultimately just added up to "let's invite everyone we know to Yuuri's parent's place, eat good food, drink, and celebrate the fact that we're getting married!" 

Phichit showed up early to help set up and decorate and take pictures of Viktor having a meltdown every 5 seconds whenever something wasn't perfect while Yuuri put out fires. 

Christophe had shown up with his current boyfriend early, like Phichit had, to help with set up. The other skater was surprisingly excited to see Phichit, apparently he'd decided that they were friends after everyone had hung out together at the GPF. 

"Hello! Phichit!" Christophe hugged him after he'd greeted Viktor and Yuuri, taking Phichit aback. The other skater's overwhelming sexual presence sometimes made him uncomfortable. 

_At least now I know why..._

"Oh hi, Chris!" he'd responded. 

"Here to help them set up? I'm not surprised. We're the best friends and best men, after all, it's our duty to get them all set up for all their wedding adventures! I love weddings, don't you? I wouldn't particularly want to have one myself, but they're certainly fun to plan, aren't they?" Chris rambled to him and winked. He seemed to know something was up. 

Viktor was freaking out over some of the decor. "I told them WHITE ribbons, not EGGSHELL!" 

Yuuri sighed, "Do you two mind setting up the tables so I can go put out the groomzilla fires?" he asked. Chris put his arm around Phichit before he could say anything and winked heavily at Yuuri. "Of course, anything you say, it's your party!" 

They'd started setting up the tables according to Yuuri's directions when Chris broke the silence that had formed. "Something is on your mind." 

He said that as a fact not a question. Phichit wasn't sure _Christophe Giacometti, "_ Mr. Sex on Ice" himself, was the first person he wanted to come out to as asexual, but he felt oddly ok talking to Chris about this. Maybe it was the fact that the older man was the most confident person he'd ever met.

"It's...I don't want to hijack Yuuri's party but, I've figured something out about myself that makes my whole life less confusing and I want to tell my friends. Part of it is because it's...well...I'm asexual and probably aromantic too, I'm still figuring that one out, and I don't have a red string soulmate, I've always seen green strings and didn't know why. All my friends seem to think I've been a little upset about them finding their soulmates and stuff, and I'm not! I'm over the moon happy for Yuuri, and for Leo and Guang Hong! But I was bothered that I was so different from them, and now I've finally got a name for it...and..." he ran out of words and just looked at Chris's green eyes. 

"I suspected as much, when you hardly reacted to my skating, not even a little. I believe Yuuri said your only comment was "the ice looks wet". I'm glad you figured yourself out, being your true self is important." 

Phichit actually flushed. This was such a positive response and he'd been afraid people would reject him. 

They got the place set up and helped usher people in. They'd apparently invited literally everyone, most of the skaters they hung out with at all were there. Guang Hong and Leo arrived together right on time and Guang Hong sprinted to give Phichit a hug and Leo lightly punched his shoulder. He hugged them and told them again how happy he was that they'd officially gotten together. They both blushed and looked at each other, and told Phichit that Leo's family had taken it really well also. Leo said they'd had more of a problem with him being a vegetarian than bisexual with a male soulmate. 

Kenjirou Minami seemed to manifest out of nowhere. Phichit was at the entrance and never saw him come in. He was bouncing around, so excited he'd been invited that he seemed to be buzzing. 

Phichit had been surprised that Yuri Plisetsky wasn't there from the beginning. Yuuri had explained that he was coming with Otabek and some friends later. Friends? 

That question got answered when Yuri Plisetsky sauntered in twenty minutes late holding Otabek's right hand...and holding JJ's left and looking incredibly pissed off about it. Isabella, JJ's fiancé, was on JJ's other side. Ahh....so Yuri and Otabek were the partners mentioned in the article. He was less surprised than he figured he'd be. 

For the first time in forever, he felt like he belonged when everyone here was coupled up, or quadrupled in the Otabek/Yuri/JJ/Isabella groups case. He didn't feel out of place because he was by himself. He felt like he was with a huge group of people that meant the world to him. 

The festivities were pretty casual, some people had brought gifts, other's hadn't. Phichit was still looking for the right time to tell his friends what he'd discovered about himself in between taking pictures of everyone and everything. He wanted to tell Yuuri first...

He walked up to the bar where Yuuri was drinking a glass of champagne. 

"Are you sure you should be drinking that?" he asked his best friend teasingly. 

Yuuri rolled his eyes. "I mean...Chris handed it to me so probably not, but it's my party and I'll get naked and strip if I want to," he replied. Phichit laughed outloud, and took his phone out, the two of them leaned in together and Phichit took a selfie. 

"Hey, Yuuri? I have something I really want to tell you..." Phichit said. He'd never been so nervous, not even while skating in front of a huge crowd at the GPF. 

"Anything! You know that!" 

"I...well...I've figured out why I don't have a red string of fate, and why I see green strings tying me to friends instead." 

"Because you're colorblind?" Yuuri teased. 

"No...it's because I'm asexual and at least sort of aromantic. I've never wanted a relationship like you and Viktor have because I've never been attracted to anyone, sexually or romantically, and my platonic relationships are way more important to me." He looked at Yuuri, hoping his best friend wouldn't reject him. "I hope you accept me as who I am." 

Yuuri's face broke out into a smile and he embraced his best friend. "Phichit, of course I accept you! You're my best friend, no matter what your sexuality is!" 

Yuuri looked at him deviously. Oh no. Whenever Yuuri got devious things got crazy. 

"Hey everyone!!" Yuuri announced tapping a fork on his champagne glass. "My good friend here just came out to me as asexual and aromantic! You guys should congratulate him!" 

Phichit glared at Yuuri how DARE he bring back almost the exact words Phichit had used when he'd thought Yuuri and Viktor had gotten married right before the GPF! 

Everyone in the room clapped though. Otabek seemed to have almost exactly the face he'd had during Phichit's announcement of Yuuri's presumed marriage in Barcelona.

"Hey, way to go, man, be yourself, eh?" JJ yelled obnoxiously from the other side of the room. 

Guang Hong and Leo ran up and both embraced Phichit. "Why didn't you tell us?" Guang Hong asked him. 

"Yeah, I thought you were being weird about us getting together, but I couldn't figure out why!" Leo said. 

"I didn't know until recently. Also wasn't expecting Yuuri to ANNOUNCE it like that," Phichit replied, glaring at his best friend. 

"Consider it revenge for embarrassing me in Barcelona," Yuuri said, and winked. "I knew everyone here would be happy for you or I wouldn't have said anything." 

Phichit's eyes sparkled a little with tears. 

"I'm lucky. I don't have to be tied to one soulmate when I can be tied with the best friends a guy could ask for." 

**Author's Note:**

> This work is really personal and based somewhat on my own coming out experience as asexual and demiromantic (Which is what I headcanon Phichit as) I wanted to explore the "red string of fate" soulmate trope from the perspective of someone who's soulmate is likely mostly platonic, if they have one.   
> I hope you like it!!


End file.
